


A Day In The Life of a Super Soldier

by xikra1648



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Multi, One Shot Collection, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-07-12 05:34:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7087324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xikra1648/pseuds/xikra1648
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't a secret that there were other super soldiers out there, Steve and Bucky might be the first and most famous but they certainly weren't going to be the last.  One in particular mattered to them though, the young woman that joined the Avengers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bar Exam (Katrina Hazel Pierce)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a Legal Studies student (it's basically Pre-Law with more law classes) preparing to go to Law school so the episode of How I Met Your Mother where Marshall takes the Bar holds a special place in my soul. I was binge watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and this popped into my head and I couldn't resist.
> 
> This specific O/C holds a bit of a special place in my heart simply because she's so much like myself, even her name comes from my friends renaming me 'Katrina Hazel' because my actual name doesn't really fit.

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### The Bar Exam

_“Katrina Hazel!”_

_Ooh, full name…that was never a good sign. Kat winced, one of her blood red eyes still squinted as she eyed her guardian from her hiding place. There was no telling whether this was a test or not. Last time it turned out to be a trick, Peggy was pretending to be angry to get the young superhuman out of hiding and it worked. To be fair Katrina wasn’t planning on being an Agent, she was fully intending on being an attorney, but being a superhuman she was ordered to train with the former S.H.I.E.L.D Director. Considering that former experience, Katrina decided it was best to stay hidden._

_“Why did I find a bottle of vodka and a pack of cigarettes in your bedroom?”_

_Yup, definitely best to stay hidden._

Hiding from Aunt Peggy while she was training was less stressful than this. Being Darcy’s roommate in college, and after graduation, was less stressful…though that could be because of the copious amounts of pot brownies, cakes, and cookies they consumed. Killing her own father, Alexander Pierce, to help Captain America stop Hydra’s evil plan, after finding out S.H.I.E.L.D had been taken over by Hydra was less stressful. Hell, finding out she was supposed to be one of the other Winter Soldier’s created from the serum stolen from Howard Stark, after he was assassinated by Hydra, was less stressful than this.

“And…begin.”

Everyone in the room opened their test books and began the exam, except the man sitting behind Katrina who threw up instead. Katrina looked up and slowly turned around to look at the man, who had vomited and passed out before he even answered the first question. She was there for the full 12 hours on the first day before being sent home. She walked past the rest of the team, crashed on the couch and passed out before getting up the next morning, changing, and leaving to finish the second half of the biggest exam of her life. On this day not one, not two, but three people ran out screaming.

“Time’s up.”

Katrina looked up with wide, frightened red eyes before looking back down and attempting to finish the last question. The monitor grabbed her answer booklet as she was still writing so Katrina gripped it, and kept writing.

“Time is up.”

“I know.” She kept writing.

“Ma’am, time is up.”

“I know.”

“The test is over.”

“I know it is!” Katrina attempted to yank the test back without ripping it, but the monitor managed to yank it out of her grip before she could plot the last period, instead creating a rather obnoxious line across the bottom of the page. He stood a good yard away from Katrina, looking disheveled and disturbed before continuing to gather the tests. He should have known something like that would happen. It was the New York State Bar Exam. Three people ran out screaming on the second day, two people passed out on the first day and that wasn’t counting the guy that threw up before he passed out.

Katrina practically floated her way back to the tower she was so out of it. She ghosted her way over to the fridge and grabbed a beer, popped the bottle open, and chugged the entire bottle before grabbing another one. She made her way over to the communal living room and plopped down on the couch, between the older super soldiers who decided to stay out of the argument over which movie to watch.

“You alright Kat?” Steve asked when he saw the young, and much smaller, super soldier staring blankly at the blank TV screen with tired red eyes and her waist-length black hair in a messy bun. It didn’t help that when she got dressed that morning she only put on an oversized ‘Led Zepplin’ t-shirt and a pair of worn denim shorts. She kicked her black low-tops off and sulked.

“I failed…almost eight years of higher education, countless hours of study on missions, while I was training, while I was fighting aliens and living with Darcy all to fail.”

“You couldn’t have done that bad. What are the chances of failing anyway?” Bucky attempted to make her feel better as he sat back, his metal arm laid across the back of the couch behind Katrina.

“Half.”

Bucky coughed on his beer, “Half?”

“Holy shit!” Sam broke away from the argument when he overheard that part of the conversation.

“Only half the people pass?” that even caught Tony’s attention.

Steve, Natasha, and Wanda shot the three cross looks, making Bucky, Sam, and Tony begin to try recover.

“That’s more than I thought.”

“Yeah, I mean half the people pass.”

“That’s fantastic,” Tony finished up for them, “You go kid!”

“How long until you get your passing grade?” Natasha glared at Tony when she stressed the word ‘passing.’

“A few months…” Katrina answered, “Yesterday three people passed out, one of them even passed out in his own vomit, and today three people ran out screaming. I’m wasn’t prepared for that!”

“The list of things you’ve fought includes Thor’s crazy brother, aliens, a psychotic robot, Hydra, Bucky, Wanda, and Team Iron Man and you’re not prepared for a test?” Clint questioned the 26-year-old super soldier.

“Nobody asked you circus boy!” Katrina snapped, “I’ve been working towards this my whole life!”

“I’m sure you did great,” Steve wrapped a strong arm around Katrina’s shoulders and pulled her in to rest against his chest. She lifted her feet off the floor and tucked them in close so they were resting on the couch. She felt Bucky use his flesh hand to gently pull her legs across his lap and gently holding them there with his hand on her calf. Katrina snuggled in closer to make herself comfortable, and feel safe with the guys. She was still scared to death of the results, but she felt safer with the guys there…even if Bucky’s initial reaction wasn’t exactly what she was hoping for.


	2. Those Legs (Anya 'A.J.' Jovovich)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A.J. and Bucky have been forced to work together, even after a particularly difficult past involving A.J.'s legs wrapped around Bucky's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was absolute crap but I couldn't help it. After I saw Civil War I noticed that every time Nat and Bucky fought she ended up with her legs around his head. Then I noticed she does that to practically everyone she fights. Then I was watching Agent Carter and noticed that Dotty (a Black Widow from the 40's) used the same move. then this was born.
> 
> As for Project Phoenix that's totally made up. Honestly the name was slightly random, I picked it only because A.J.'s healing rate is what really sets her apart from the other super soldiers and Phoenix's literally come back from the dead.

#  A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier 

###  Those Legs 

Anya “A.J.” Jovovich wasn’t your average super soldier, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman. For starters she started out as a student of the Red Room before the KGB ordered her to report to one of the many hidden, and questionably moral, labs in Russia. She wasn’t particularly strong, but she was fast, reacted faster, she healed from practically everything and much faster than average, she was immune to practically everything, and on a scale of 1 to 10 her senses were somewhere around 15.

In retrospect, the KGB, or at least the portion of the KGB that turned out to be Hydra, probably regretted leaving the Winter Soldier as the only security keeping the only successful product of Project Phoenix safe. They assumed being a product of the Red Room that A.J. would stay put as she was ordered, clearly they didn’t expect her to react poorly to her DNA being rewritten-a remarkably painful experience.

She still remembered that day clearly, anyone would, but one thing stuck out in her head. She found a chink in the armor of the Winter Soldier. No, it wasn’t a specific weakness, it certainly wasn’t the Hydra brainwashing, and it had nothing to do with his metal arm. It was much more comical than all of that. During the fight for her freedom, she wrapped her legs around his head in a fairly classic maneuver taught at the Red Room and noticed that the ruthless assassin froze, even if it was just for a moment. Years later she found out it was a part of his 1940’s mentality that Hydra had failed to erase, but until then she used that to her advantage every time they battled.

After turning herself in to S.H.I.E.L.D the first thing she went through was an interrogation, by Director Fury himself. From there she worked her way to Fury’s inner circle, which gave Natasha the chance to join S.H.I.E.L.D herself years later. Still, years later every time Fury heard whispers that the Winter Soldier would resurface he sent Anya to handle the situation-something that probably saved Steve’s life when she pulled his frozen ass out of the Arctic Circle and when they took down S.H.I.E.L.D. That was also, probably, why the Winter Soldier focused his attacks on A.J. during their fight at the overpass…

Maybe it had something to do with the grenade she lobbed at his head…

To her defense he caught it and threw it back at her which is probably why she kicked him in the-

Not important.

The point is, nobody knew how Bucky fought better than A.J. and nobody knew how A.J. fought better than Bucky. That made them the perfect team for training and in the field. At least that was the case as far as Steve was concerned, and Steve has a habit of disagreeing with a little thing called reality. Turned out the two couldn’t get along, even when their lives actually depended on it. It only got worse when they were training.

“You have to stop freezing like that!” A.J. snapped as she pulled her long blonde hair out of the messy bun it was in, “Every time you have a close encounter with a woman’s legs you freeze!”

“They were around my head!” Bucky snapped back glaring directly into A.J.’s green eyes, “How would you feel if I put my…”

Bucky had no idea where he was going with that. Well, he did but his mind hit a screeching halt when he remembered everyone freezes when they get an unexpected dick in their face. He had to think of something else. Come on, Bucky, think fast. Think fast! 

“I know where you’re going with that, and I suspect I’d be unimpressed,” A.J.’s red lips turned up in a smirk as she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and walked out of the training room, her hips swaying in her tight yoga pants. A.J. would be the first to admit that Bucky was an unbelievably attractive man, both before and after World War II, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a jackass or he wasn’t fun to tease. Hell, he was almost as fun to toy with as Steve was…almost. Nobody would be as fun to tease as the 90-something-year-old virgin.

Bucky watched with interest as A.J. walked away. They might not get along but he had to admit the other superhuman assassin was a pretty sight no matter who you were, and he had some bad ideas. 

Ideas that involved A.J.’s long legs wrapped around his head.


	3. Twitterpated (Dr. Lilly Banner)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilly had always been a bit awkward, though that wasn't really surprising considering her older brother was Bruce Banner. She never really believed when a guy took an interest in her, which is why when Steve is so obviously smitten she can't believe it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit this is sickeningly sweet, but I love big brother Bruce and I couldn't help myself...again...

#  A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier 

###  Twitterpated 

Bruce had been onto something when he was working on recreating Dr. Erskine’s infamous serum, his little sister, Dr. Lilly Banner, had been proof enough of that. In an attempt to take Ross’s attention off of her brother she took his research and, after plugging in only one or two of her own ideas, tested it on herself. It wasn’t exact, when it came to brute strength she wasn’t as strong as the others and her metabolism wasn’t as fast, but she was just as fast, her reflexes were just as quick, and she could take hits just like the guys.

She still preferred working in the lab, which was why Steve constantly made his way into the lab.

“Hey, Curley Q,” Tony teased when he saw Steve approaching the glass doors to the lab, “Your Star Spangled boyfriend is here.”

“Tony, you do realize that I’ll probably toss you out the window before F.R.I.D.A.Y. can get your suit to you, right?” Lilly replied, never taking her brown eyes off of the tablet in her hands, reading over the black square frame of her glasses, “And he’s not my boyfriend, we’re only friends.”

Steve froze for only a second outside the glass walls of the lab to admire the scientist as she worked with her brother and her brother’s best friend. Her curly brown hair was always a mess and impossible to manage, which is why she always tied it up on the top of her head. Her brown eyes were deep and thoughtful and made the freckles dotted across her nose, cheeks, and even her soft pink lips warm and more adorable than they already were. Her soft features extended from her warm and caring face, down her long neck, and to the soft curves visible underneath the neat skinny jeans, blue blouse, darker blue vest, and black heels she was wearing as she worked.

One look at her when they met on the Helicarrier all those years ago and Steve knew he was lost, if the sketches he had of her in his sketchbook were any hint.

“Say what you want, but old Cap’s been twitterpated over you since the moment you met,” Tony snickered as he kept working.

“Bruce, keep your friend under control,” Lilly pointed at her brother with her pen, accusingly.

“I would but considering your history with guys I’m hoping he’s right.”

“I was a science nerd with braces, glasses, and clothes that didn’t fit. I was lucky any guy noticed me in high school.”

“And considering how many of them cheated on you I wish they hadn’t,” Bruce retorted, “If Steve’s going to make a move I’m not gonna’ stop him. I’m just gonna’ ask when the wedding is.”

Lilly was about to retort when the door to the lab opened.

“Hey Lil,” Steve greeted with a smile, which Lilly returned.

“Hey Steve, is it noon already?”

“Yeah, it’s alright, if you need to finish up-“

“No, no. We’ve got things here,” Tony cut off the soldier with a grin.

“Yeah, you guys go head. Have fun at lunch,” Bruce added, he wasn’t grinning but his smile was sly.

“Alright…” Lilly looked at her work partners suspiciously. They were up to something. Still, she put her tablet down and walked with Steve out of the lab, chatting with him comfortably as they left.

Tony wrapped an arm around Bruce’s shoulder and sighed, “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

Tony’s brow furrowed when he noticed Bruce was strangely silent as he turned back to his work. Tony had to struggle to hear it, but he definitely heard it.

“He better take her out on a real date soon or I’m gonna’ be pissed.”


	4. Test Results (Her Bitch) (Katrina Hazel Pierce)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katrina gets the results of the Bar Exam, but it's a little more of an event than anyone expected. Especially Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like the last one-shot starring Katrina, I blame How I Met Your Mother.

#  A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier 

###  Test Results (Her Bitch) 

They were tired, beaten, bleeding, and had been blown up, but the second they landed Katrina sprinted off the Quin Jet screaming, “Where’s my password?!”

“What got up her butt?” Clint asked as he limped off the Quin Jet.

“The Bar Exam results are going to be out in…” Bucky looked at a nearby clock, “Two minutes.”

All eyes were on Bucky, they expected Steve to answer. The fact that Bucky knew when the Bar Exam results were out down to the minute, 11:57 pm, was a bit of a surprise.

“What?” Bucky shrugged, “It’s all she’s been talking about for two weeks.”

Steve was about to explain, knowing that Katrina had been avoiding walking about the exam for fear of a nervous breakdown, when they heard what could only be described as a bloodcurdling scream from Katrina’s floor. The team sprinted from the Quin Jet to the study on Katrina’s floor, lined in every court reporter series, printed statute series, and legal journal she could get her hands on-with Tony’s money of course. Books and notes were spread all over the place, but she was looking for something very specific: a yellow sticky note.

It was a comical scene, everyone still in their suits watching as Katrina scrambled around her office practically ripping it apart. She had tossed her black leather jacket on the floor, leaving her in her in her pale blue corset top, black leather shorts held up with a black leather belt littered with throwing knives and her favorite jack knife, her black gloves, and black combat boots. Her waist length, pitch black hair was left down like it normally was but it was an absolute mess, her red eyes wide with panic. She was frighteningly deadly but the second they got home she was an anxious mess.

“What? What happened? What’s wrong?” Wanda rushed, worried for her best friend. She had never heard Katrina scream like that, not even as a result of her nightmares.

“I can’t find it! I can’t find my password!” Katrina continued to search through the heavy oak desk in front of the window, facing the door, “I can’t find my-there it is! Pizza rolls, taquitos, french fries, bagle bites, tater tots…this is a shopping list…”

“I thought it was an inventory of the frozen foods section,” Sam retorted.

“I get hungry when I study!” Katrina defended before waving over to Steve and Bucky, “At least I’m not as bad as those proverbial garbage disposals!”

That much was true, and impressive considering she had the same metabolism as them. She was also the only considerate jogging partner out of the three, one day she slipped off her shoes and threw them at the other super soldiers.

“Is this it?” Bucky asked, lifting his metal arm to show a series of hastily scribbled letters and numbers written on the underside of his bicep.

“What the hell…” Nat muttered when they saw the scribbles. Who in the hell would have the balls…who in the hell would Bucky let use him as a-

“That’s it! Get over here I need to type it into the computer!” Katrina ordered.

Oh…that’s who.

There was no missing the deadpan expression on Bucky’s face as he held his arm up for Katrina. It shifted to a glare, however, when he saw Steve’s smirk. Bucky had gone through a lot of trouble throughout his entire life to build up a certain image, and there he was letting almost 100 years of effort fall to the wayside because he was absolute putty when it came to little Kat. Sure, Steve was just as much putty in Katrina’s hands but they weren’t exactly surprised. Steve was a nice guy; he would go out of his way to help a lot of people. It was only a matter of time before he began following Katrina, a young girl who needed his help and wanted to make the world a better place, like the adorable Labrador puppy he was. Bucky, on the other hand, was one of the world’s deadliest assassins letting an excitable law school graduate use his metal arm as a post-it note so often when she writes something on it she actually thinks she’s writing on a post-it note.

“I passed!” Katrina jumped and hugged Bucky, surprising the poor man, “I passed, I passed!”

Steve laughed, "Come on, let's wash up and celebrate."

Katrina practically squealed at his announcement, hugging him before rushing off to her bedroom and leading the rest of the team out of her study.

“Dude,” Sam muttered to Bucky as they all left the study, “You’re her bitch.”

“You wearing your wings Sam?”

“No, why?”

“Just wondering how much damage I could do if I threw you off the roof.”

From that day on it became an unspoken rule that nobody would ever talk about Bucky being Katrina’s bitch. Imagine her amusement when she actually found out she had a metal-armed, Casanova of an assassin as her bitch.


	5. Love Me Like You Do (Dance Pt. 1) (Anya 'A.J.' Jovovich)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The toughest missions are never in a battle field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, hear me out. Back in the 90's they obviously didn't have Netflix and Chill, they had dancing, and if a guy wanted to pick up a girl he had to know how to dance. That being said, Bucky knows how to dance and nobody can convince me otherwise. (Obviously A.J. knows how to dance being a graduate of the Red Room.)
> 
> Obviously I was watching the 'Love Me Like You Do' music video when I wrote this. You don't have to, but I felt like I should explain the ending.

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### Love Me Like You Do (Dance Part One)

Getting into the ball wasn’t the problem. Who was going to say ‘no’ when the Avengers wanted to go to your party? The problem was the mission itself. They had to pair up into teams, secure the premises find the assassin (or assassins), and neutralize them all without the British Royal family or the British Secret Service finding out. Believe it or not, it was harder than it sounded, considering they couldn’t wear their usual gear, of course the guys had it fairly easy-at least they were wearing pants. Tony would never forget the glare he received from A.J., Natasha, and Wanda when he told them they had to wear gowns.

Not dresses or skirts, which they all could work with, floor-length gowns. Seriously, they were worse than capes-and Thor had practically choked when he got his cape caught on the team’s last mission. Unless they could smuggle a rocket launcher under their gowns they were going to be at a huge disadvantage-

All arguments the guys ignored.

Long story short, that was how A.J. ended up standing at the open bar in the white, gold, and red ballroom in Buckingham Palace. The ball itself spanned over many rooms, all of which had been lit dimly and decorated for the ball, but this was where the open bar happened to be. They arrived in two groups, the girls first then the guys, and they would split up into their two to three man teams from there.

A.J. grimaced when she realized she couldn’t just walk away from the bar, she had to lift her dress before she could take a single step. She had picked the least cumbersome dress she could find, a black dress that shimmered lightly with straps decorated with ornate lace holding it up on her shoulders, a V-neck that accentuated her bust and was high enough to offset the low-cut back that left her entire back, all the way to the small of her back, bare. The skirt of the dress was light and flowed, but it trailed on the floor by a little over half a foot. She would have to lift the skirt to walk, but it was better than the alternative-an actual ball gown with frills and multiple layers of skirts.

Her simple black heels made no sound against the red floor as she carried her short glass of vodka on ice as she walked around the perimeter to one of the empty circular tables, where she would wait for her partner. She sat sideways in the chair, her legs crossed and one hand resting on the table, firmly wrapped around her glass of vodka, while the other played with her long blonde hair which was left down for once.

“I almost didn’t recognize you.”

A.J. looked up to see Bucky standing across the table. His dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and he had bothered to shave, giving him a more…youthful look. A.J. was surprised they could find a suit that fit the man’s broad shoulders and that they had talked him into a black tie to match the suit. That was before she noticed-

“No glove?” A.J. asked as the larger assassin walked around the table to stand by her, and when Bucky answered her A.J. sincerely regretted taking a sip of her vodka.

“I only got the glove if I wore a bow-tie.”

A.J. snorted and groaned, “Oh, vodka just came out my nose.”

Bucky was thrown into laughter as he handed her a napkin, “That’s what you get for drinking on the job.”

“I highly doubt a few vodkas are going to make things harder than looking like this,” A.J. retorted, standing up to show off her dress, she picked up the skirt, “Look at this! This was the least cumbersome dress I could find and I have to hold it just so I can run.”

Bucky was looking, he was definitely looking, and she looked…wow. She normally looked great but the way that dress hugged her figure and the makeup that drew out her green eyes and soft pink lips. A little over seven decades ago he would have asked her to dance so fast her head would have spun; hell he was still considering it when she beat him to it.

A.J. tossed the rest of her vodka down her throat and grabbed Bucky, by his metal hand, and pulled him over to the dance floor saying, “We need to case the room.”

“By dancing?” Bucky retorted when they stopped. He held her hand and placed a hand on A.J.’s waist, muscle memory from happier times.

“You have a better idea terminator? We can get a view of the entire room without looking suspicious,” A.J. retorted. Instead of saying he didn’t have any better ideas, he just began leading the blonde around the dance floor.

“You know how to dance, I’m actually impressed,” A.J. teased lightly as her pink lips turned up in a small smirk.

“Doll, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” Bucky smirked, his Brooklyn accent slipping out, before he spun her and pulled her back against his chest, keeping up with the movements on the dance floor.

 

“Alright, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Steve said as he rejoined the rest of the team.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him from her seat between Bruce and Sam, “Oh?”

“A.J. and Bucky will probably stop trying to kill each other,” Steve offered, positively, before adding, “But we’ve probably lost them for the rest of the mission.”

“They run off to _do the do_?” Scott grinned, Sam and Tony snickered next to him. That was them, the eternal children of the team.

“Not yet, they’re dancing, but based on Bucky’s history it won’t be long till they… _fondue_ ,” Steve answered, conservatively as always. Tony snorted over his scotch at the use of the word ‘fondue’ but the rest of the team ignored it to look towards the dancefloor. They watched as Bucky lifted A.J. off the floor, their hands still clasped together and his arm snugly around her waist, taking a few steps as the skirt of A.J.’s dress flowed around them before he placed her back on the ground and dipped her low.

“I think I saw them do that on the 'Love Me Like You Do' music video…” Scott trailed off before he turned to see that everyone’s attention had turned to him, “I like Ellie Goulding!”

“That’s from the 50 Shades soundtrack,” Wanda pointed out.

“I…it…I ran out of books to read in prison and I wanted to see why everyone said the movie just wasn’t the same, okay? Can we just focus on the dancing assassins?” Scott defended himself.

“Or, we could focus on the mission,” Steve rallied the rest of the team, like children, “Now what have we got?”


	6. High School Reunion Pt. 1 (Dr. Lilly Banner)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody really likes high school, but the Banner's considered it one of the worst times of their lives. Considering one of them was the Hulk, that's saying a lot.
> 
> So, naturally, when Tony finds out that Lilly's high school reunion is soon, very soon, he sets her up to go with Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously considered making this one long one-shot but I felt like it was long and muddled. So, it's a short series.

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### High School Reunion Part One

_Lillian Banner,_

_The Spartans would like to invite you to your High School Reunion._

Two lines in and Lilly tossed the invitation onto the ‘junk’ pile and went back to work.  The list of things Lilly would rather do included slamming her face in a car door, stabbing her eyes out with toothpicks, and _literally_ sticking her foot in her mouth.

Lilly could still vividly remember her days in high school, and the only people that were willing to hang out with her, though she made a valiant attempt not to.  She hadn’t changed much since High School, her brown hair was still a mess of curls, her brown eyes were still lined by black wide-frame glasses, she had never grown out of her freckles, and she was obviously still a science nerd.  Sure, being a science nerd had landed her where she was but she rarely went out in the field and when she did the media commonly asked ‘who’s the new agent?’ and never remembered when the answer was ‘she’s been here since day one.’

She tossed the invitation on the ‘to be thrown out’ pile on her desk before getting back to work-she wasn’t just an Avenger she was an R&D scientist for Stark Industries.  She had better things to do with her time than stare at the offending beige card decorated in gold and blue-the school colors.  There were papers she needed to sign, forms she needed to fill out, briefs and reports to give, and then there was the research and development itself.

She never considered the fact that Tony had a habit of getting bored and waiting around to bother in her office, so obviously the colorful invitation caught his eye.  He snatched it up and, like anybody would do, RSVP’d to the event- _Lillian and one guest_.  Oh, he wasn’t going to take her, he wasn’t going to risk the big green guy turning him inside out, but Lil wasn’t gonna’ go on her own.  So, Tony handed Nat his credit card for a shopping spree for her, Wanda, and Lilly with one request: buy Lilly a dress and shoes for her to wear to her high school reunion.  He was sure to clarify he was going to convince Steve to go with Lilly-it shouldn’t take much-and that was all it took for Natasha to leap on board.  She told Wanda the plan before they pulled Lilly out of her lab and off to every mall and boutique in Manhattan.

“Hey!  Capsicle!” Tony finally tracked down Steve, training with Bucky and Sam in the gym, “I set you up on a date!”

“I thought that was my job,” Bucky retorted before Steve could.

“It _was_ , but from what we heard you _sucked_ at it,” Sam replied, causing the ex-assassin to shove his friend hard enough to knock him over.  Sam let out a snappy, ‘ _ow!’_ but Steve just rolled his eyes and ignored the two-it was nothing new and he was a little too concerned about this _date_ Tony set him up on.

“No offense, Tony, but I don’t exactly trust your judgement enough to let you set me up on a date.”

“Relax, Star Spangled Spandex, it’s Lilly.”

“He’s going,” Bucky answered for Steve as he picked up his water bottle and took a drink.

“What the-“

“You’re goin’ punk.  I’m gettin’ sick of watchin’ you pine after the girl like she’s out of your league,” Bucky ordered before adding, “She is, but she likes you anyway so you’re gonna’ go for it before she figures out she’s out of your league.”

“Thanks, jerk.”  Steve wasn’t amused.  He wasn't _arguing_ , but he wasn't amused, leave it to Bucky to be brutally honest.

“Her high school reunion is in a few weeks and I already RSVP’d for you guys and sent her out with the girls to get a new dress and shoes.  All you gotta’ do, after we tell her she’s going, is drive to Ohio, take her to her high school reunion, make the football team feel inadequate while she makes the cheerleaders feel like crap, make her the belle of the ball, take her out for drinks, and _boom_ you got yourself a gorgeous superhuman scientist for a girlfriend.”

“ _After we tell her she’s going_?” Steve quoted Tony, “She doesn’t _know_?”

“Did I say _tell her_?  I meant _remind_ her, you know how she forgets-“

“ _Tony_.”  Steve knew Tony was lying, not just because Tony wasn’t nearly as good at it as he thought, but Lilly had a perfectly eidetic memory even better than his own-which was good before the serum that only made it better.

“Alright, high school was kinda’ rough for her so she doesn’t exactly wanna go-“

“So naturally you’re making her go.”

“Yeah, because what former high school nerd doesn’t like to go back to high school and show off how much better they are than everyone else?  She’s an Avenger, she’s superhuman, she _taught_ kids that S.H.I.E.L.D thought were geniuses, she’s the smartest person on the Stark Industries R &D team, _and_ she’s got you following her around like a twitterpated puppy,” Tony reasoned, “Why shouldn’t she show that off?”

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad to take her to her reunion, “Alright, but one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“Drop us off in the jet,” Steve bargained, thinking that the less time Lilly had to spend in a place she didn’t want to be was for the best.  Tony took it an entirely different direction, but it ended in the same result.

“ _Yess_ , a limo is little league the _Avengers’ Quinjet_ is the _big leagues_ ,” Tony was frighteningly excited and was grinning, “That… _that_ is _brilliant_!”

“No, Tony, I was just thinking about…you know what, as long as we get the Quinjet I don’t care what you think,” Steve cut himself off from correcting Tony, he was just going to quit while he was still ahead.

“Alright!  Now let’s go convince-“

 _"Tony!  Get your ass to the lab.  Now!”_ Lilly barked over the intercom.

“I think she knows,” Sam interjected.

“I think you might wanna be wearing that suit when you talk to her,” Bucky added, pointing at Tony and teasing as the trio left the gym.

Tony just cleared his throat and turned to leave the gym, calling out, "F.R.I.D.A.Y., ready the suit."

_"Dr. Banner has temporarily shut down all of my connections to your suits boss."_

Tony froze and paled.

He was going to die.


	7. Insecure (Katrina Hazel Pierce)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even superheroes get insecure sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live!! Sorry for the long wait. Between work, classes, home, and the recent revival of my addiction to Persona 3 Portable (despite the fact that I hate how the ended it) and Persona 4 Golden I've fallen behind on my writing...

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### Insecure

When Katrina was angry, depressed, tired, or anything other than content she became quiet. Nearly silent to be exact. She would hole away on her private floor and avoid interaction at all costs. Most times it was best to leave her be, but Steve couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed a shoulder to cry on. The fact that she took the stairs to the Avengers’ living quarters was a clue in itself, but she stopped at Thor’s floor to steal the bottle of Asgardian liquor-the only thing that could get her really drunk and not just slightly buzzed-before going up to her own floor. Thor had left his quarters to join the others on the main floor after Katrina had raided his stash of alcohol, entirely ignoring Thor the entire time.

Steve took a quick jog up the stairs to Katrina’s floor and looked around the living room and kitchen-she was nowhere to be found. He looked around, calling out Katrina’s name gently as he looked around. He eventually heard Katrina respond with, ‘go away Steve,’ from her bedroom. He normally would have listened but…something was just off about Katrina today.

He found her standing in front of a full-length mirror dressed in a tank-top and small cotton shorts as she drank the Asgardian liquor right from the small flask. Steve could see her grimacing in her reflection as her red eyes narrowed, like she didn’t like what she saw. Steve walked up behind Katrina and placed a warm hand on her shoulder, making the younger superhuman look up at him with surprised red eyes. Steve gently took the flask from Katrina’s hand and secured the lid before putting it into his pocket.

“What’s wrong Kat?”

“It’s stupid, just let me drink it off. I’ll be fine.”

“Kat, tell me what’s wrong.” Steve was using his ‘Captain America’ tone, the closest thing surefire way to get Kat to talk about her problems. Kat didn’t feel like he was ordering her, though, she had said ‘no’ to him before, and she likely would again. This time, Kat sighed and stepped around Steve to sit on the edge of her bed, still grimacing at her reflection.

“I’m not pretty. I’m not _ugly_ , the mirror is still intact, but I’m not pretty…”

“What in the world gave you that idea?” Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing as he sat down next to Katrina.

“I was working on some legal stuff with Pepper and I ran into one of the girls I went to law school with. She was always some little miss perfect, like she was good at everything, she always had guys chasing after her, she was smart, everyone in her family are lawyers so she fit right in there-“

“Well, they must have been disappointed when you ended up with the highest GPA in the class and one of the highest LSAT and Bar exam results in the last decade,” Steve couldn’t help but bring it up. He had been Katrina’s S/O during their short stint at S.H.I.E.L.D-though she was trained to be an agent and he was a soldier-and he was proud. He remembered watching as she would sit on the floor of a transport jet and study before putting her classwork away and leaping out the back of a jet with no parachute.

Katrina smiled briefly and half-heartedly before continuing, “Yeah, well she started talking about how she got this e-mail from some agent at Victoria’s Secret asking her to become one of their models. I get that it’s probably crap but then everyone started talking about how she could totally do it and how pretty she was and then she started talking about how she’s just ‘like that’ and she never has to work out or watch what she eats and I just…My bust is too wide, my shoulders are broader than most women, I’ve got wide hips, thick bones, a fat ass, too much muscle, don’t get me started on my thighs, my hair is never perfect, I’m pale, and I’ve got red eyes for god’s sake! I’m practically a _vampire!_ ”

This was a gentle topic, but Steve had a pretty good idea of how he wanted to handle it. He might be a super soldier but he wouldn’t hurt a fly if he could help it.

“You’re a super human, take it from a guy who’s been human that’s pretty great. You’re strong, that muscle and those scars you’re always hiding-you got those from _saving_ people. You’ve let countless strangers cry on your shoulder as you carried them out of danger, your bones can withstand jumping out of a jet and diving into the ocean. And you know what? I’ve heard Nat and Wanda say they’re jealous of your hair, something about it being thick and soft, and as a guy I think it’s beautiful. I think _you’re_ beautiful.”

“You’re a knight in red, white, and blue armor so I’m gonna file that under ‘things you have to say because you’re _Steve_ ,’” Katrina retorted. Steve hadn’t noticed when she picked the pocket of his jeans-in such good shape they looked like they were new, because everybody keeps such good care of their jeans-and pulled the flask she had stolen from Thor back out and took a swig. Steve visibly jumped when he saw the flask before checking his pocket quickly before turning his eyes back to Katrina-who just shrugged-feigning innocence-before taking a swig and offering some to Steve. He just grabbed the flask from her and made his way to the doorway.

“Get dressed and sober up,” Steve ordered.

“Why would I have to sober up?” Katrina asked. Poor Bucky was stuck on a stake out in Moscow with Sam and Tony and was the only one who could actually speak Russian-Natasha had taken time off for Bruce’s birthday, Clint was spending the week with his family, and Pepper needed Katrina nearby for Stark Industries’ latest takeover. Katrina actually felt bad for the ex-assassin, but that didn’t mean she and Steve were gonna skip the monthly tradition of ordering delivery from anywhere that would deliver just because the third super musketeer was gone. Their metabolism’s ran four times faster than the average human-Katrina was just the only one self-conscious enough to keep it under control most of the time. Still, when she was alone or with the guys she could be just as bad as them and the guys couldn’t care less, they knew exactly what it was like to deal with that metabolism and even nagged on her when they thought she wasn't eating enough.

“We’re going out to eat and I’m guessing the place on Madison won’t let us in if you’re not dressed.”

“That place on… _Eleven Madison Park_? Steve, that place is a five-star restaurant in the middle of Manhattan and it’s _prime dinner time_ , we’re never going to get in.”

Katrina didn’t see Steve smirk much, he was normally a pretty reserved guy, but she had to admit his confident smirk was _really_ hot.

“We’re Avengers. I’ll be back in an hour.” That was all Steve said before he left, leaving Katrina to sit, baffled, before deciding to go along with it and get ready. If it came down to it, Katrina wasn’t against picking up pizza and Chinese takeout all dressed up. Actually, a night out dressed up with Steve sounded pretty fun…

Oh…

Oh no…

This couldn’t be happening…

She already had a crush on Bucky, just the thought of training with the former assassin made Katrina’s face turn red as Bucky always ended up shedding his shirt and their sparring matches always ended up as grappling matches as they tumbled around on the floor.

But now…

_She had a crush on Steve too…_


	8. High School Reunion Pt. 2 (Dr. Lilly Banner)

# Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### High School Reunion Part 2

She should have killed him. She should have killed him, had him revived, then killed him again. She was going to turn him inside out and hang him from the nearest flagpole as a warning. She was going to skin him alive and-

“You know, doing your hair would be a lot easier if you weren’t sitting there _sulking_ the entire time,” Natasha pointed out as she played with Lilly’s curly hair. As Lilly’s best friend, and an utterly honest woman when it came to personal matters such as hair, Natasha at an inordinate amount of fun playing with Lilly’s hair. It was so curly, and springy, and thick. There was so much that could be done with it, especially when it was straightened and flowed down to the middle of her back. That was the plan today, just straightening her hair and letting it flow free.

Lilly should have known something was up when Natasha and Wanda dragged her out shopping, but she felt even worse that she hadn’t figured out something was up when the spy convinced her to buy a dress she had liked but had no reason to wear. It wasn’t something Lilly could wear to work and as far as she knew there was no party coming up that would warrant it. It was a nice black dress but a little sexier than what Lilly wore; it had long sleeves and reached down to just below her knees, form fitting with a slit in the back and a square neck that didn’t show off _too_ much of her bust, but the back was so low that the small of her back was bare. Still, she had been convinced to buy it, along with a pair of black heels and a silver clutch.

“I don’t wanna go.”

“Oh, come on, think of it as your first date with Steve,” Natasha consoled as she continued to straighten Lilly’s hair.

“Oh, yeah, great date. We went to the one place in the world that I hate more than anything. Maybe when the reunion is over we’ll go to the dentist so I can have a tooth pulled or better yet, the _Gyno. That’s_ always a fun trip,” Lilly retorted.

 

“Your first date with Lilly, I’ll be sure to include this in my toast at your wedding,” Bucky teased when Steve walked out to the living room and tossed his black suit jacket over the back of the couch.

“Yeah, Buck, it’s gonna be great seeing as she doesn’t want to go,” Steve retorted.

“Don’t take it personal. Just make sure there’s alcohol in her hands at all times and keep following around like a lovesick puppy,” Sam shrugged, “That’ll keep her happy.”

“You two are about as useless as it gets, you know that?” Steve shook his head before tying his black tie and grabbing his suit jacket off the back of the couch and making his way to the elevator.

“We won’t wait up and remember, always hold the door open for her and wear a condom,” Bucky smirked, though he and Sam began snickering like the children they were when Steve glared at them before leaving.

 

The flight to Ohio was quiet and almost tense. Lilly really didn’t want to go and Steve felt bad about being at least partially responsible. It didn’t help that he was having trouble keeping his eyes off of her and where he was steering the Quinjet, she looked… _wow._ Steve tried telling her it couldn’t be as bad as she was making it out to be, he kept that policy all the way to the high school and the check-in table outside of the gym. One of the teenage girls working at the table looked up at Lilly in shock and said ‘oh my god’ a few times before handing Lilly her nametag and ushering Lilly and Steve inside.

“Hey, maybe she recognizes you,” Steve smiled, trying to make Lilly feel better.

“Doubtful, she’s probably just surprised puberty finally kicked in, I was a swamp monster in high school,” Lilly replied as she stuck the nametag on her black dress as they entered the gym, already bustling with her former classmates. The gym, despite the decorations and the super-sized pictures of the graduates lining the perimeter of the gym, looked the same; big, drafty, and dim. Of course now the dim lighting served a purpose instead of getting in the way of a basketball game.

“Oh, come on, It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Oh, really? See that picture of the girl with the giant glasses and the bush posing as hair?” Lilly pointed to a picture not too far from where they were standing, and she knew Steve would be able to see it perfectly.

“Yeah I- _oh_ …it's not that bad…”

“Not that bad? That zit on my nose had its own gravitational pull, which certainly explained why my glasses kept falling down,” Lilly said as she brushed her hair back so it was lying over her right shoulder, “Don’t lie to me Rogers, it’s bad and you know it.”

“Yeah, the pimple was pretty bad, but when it cleared up I bet you were cute.”

Lilly rolled her eyes and smiled up at her friend as she grabbed a glass of white wine from the bar, “Let’s just try to blend in, I don’t want to be caught talking to anyone-“

“Oh my god…Lillian Banner? Is that you?”

“I should have known blending in with a human Adonis was impossible…” Lilly muttered as she took a sip of her wine, but it was loud enough for Steve to hear.

“What-?” Steve didn’t have time to finish his question.

“Oh my god it _is_ you! What happened to you?” a curvy blonde, with brown roots, wearing a skin-tight dark pink dress and matching stilettos said as she closed in and hugged Lilly-who looked perturbed. Steve made sure her wine didn’t spill before taking a step back and staying out of the way.

“Hi Chelsea…I see you married Nathan Blake, heard he was the quarterback at Ohio State for a while,” Lilly made small talk.

“Yeah, yeah, but what happened to you? I mean last time I saw _you_ , you were… _egh_ , and who’s this hunk you came in with?”

“Oh, you know, you wouldn’t believe what a well-made super-soldier serum will do for your complexion, or your social life for that matter,” Lilly brushed it off, or tried to.

“Oh my god, I knew he looked familiar, how’d you get _the_ Steve Rogers to come here?”

Lilly didn’t have a chance to answer, Steve just stepped in, “It’s Tony’s fault, he saw the invitation and RSVP’d before Lilly had a chance to say.”

“Tony…Tony _Stark_? You know Tony _Stark_? Oh my god…I knew you looked familiar on TV I just never thought _you’d_ be an _Avenger_ I mean… _you_? Nate! Nate honey! Get over here! You’ll _never_ guess who made her way into the Avengers!” Chelsea called to her husband, waving him away from the rest of the high school football team, “Nate is never going to believe this, I mean _Bushy Banner_ made her way into the Avengers? Unbelievable.”

“Yeah, especially since he asked me out so I’d do his Biology homework for him,” Lilly muttered in response as she finished her wine. She turned to get another glass but Steve already had one for her.

“Sam mentioned you’d need constant alcohol, now I know why,” Steve consoled, “Bushy Banner?”

“My hair, the cheerleading squad started the name and it just caught on like wildfire.”

“Wow…I’m beginning to think you and Bruce are so smart just to make up for everyone else in this town…”

Lilly snorted as she giggled, “You know, I think you have a point. Or maybe you’ve been dealing with smart people so much you think normal people are just stupid.”

“No, I live on the same floor as Sam and Bucky so that can’t be it.”

“Holy fuck if it isn’t Bushy Banner, what the hell happened to you? Last time I saw you, you were one ugly little chick!” Nate, a tall broad shouldered man with short brown hair laughed as he approached.

“She’s an _Avenger_ now, can you believe it?” Chelsea gaped at her husband.

“No way, who did you blow to get _that_ -“

Nathan didn’t have a chance to finish, he was unconscious on the floor, blood gushing from his now broken nose. Everyone stood around them, in shock, even Lilly was in shock and she could honestly say she fought aliens and lived in the same building as a Nordic deity, a man in a flying metal suit, and two 90-year-old men in better shape than most 20-year-old men will ever be. She quickly finished her wine and grabbed Steve’s clenched fist and pulled him out of the gym, through the hallway, and into the parking lot.

“Steve, what were you thinking?” Lilly asked, “You know-“

“I couldn’t just let him talk about you like that, you deserve so much better than that.”

“Ignore him, he peaked in high school and doesn’t know any better.”

Steve was still angry at the pig back in the reunion, but right now he was also angry that Lilly was just brushing it off. How could she not know how special she was? He’d just have to show her, placing his hand on her cheek and turning her towards him before pressing his lips against hers.

“Wow…” Lilly wasn’t expecting that turn of events, even if she really should have.

“Yeah…” Steve smiled down at her.

“Okay, for future reference as hot as it was when you laid Nathan out and stood there all angry and… _buff,_ I like it when I do the angry punching.”

Steve laughed and pulled Lilly close to his side by wrapping a strong arm around her thin waist and suggesting, “Come on, let’s go on an actual date.”

“Only if it involves pizza, I’m starving.”


	9. Perfect Partners (Dance Pt. 2) (Anya 'A.J.' Jovovich)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just like they expected, Hydra was making a half-assed attempt at an attack. If they acted quickly they could stop the attack before anyone knew any better.

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### Perfect Partners (Dance Pt. 2)

 

The super assassins danced, near literally, off of the dance floor and into the shadows.

“Way too many armed guys for security, even for the British Secret Service and MI6,” A.J. surmised what they had both seen, “They can be just as over the top as the American Secret Service but even they have their limits.”

“Just what I was thinking,” Bucky agreed, “Looks like they’re congregating around the stairwells while the guards are focused in strategic locations.  Somebody’s planning something.”

“The Prime Minister and the Royal Family both outwardly opposed and practically waged war against Hydra,” A.J. explained, “That’s why the Avengers were invited in the first place.  Which stands to reason Hydra is behind this.  What’s the plan?”

“Most of their forces are going to be in those stairwells.  If we can take them out then any reason for a panic is gone and the rest of the team can focus on the others in case an evacuation is required,” Bucky explained, “Get Natasha and Clint to take the other staircase, let’s see if we can keep the party going.”

“Steve always said you liked a good time,” A.J. teased as she backed into one of the staircases and spoke into her com unit, “Nat, Clint, we’ve got Hydra agents in the stairwells.  We’ve got the east end you take the west.  Everyone else focus on streamlining an evacuation if necessary.”

_"Got it.”_

_"Dammit, I was just on my way to the bar for another drink.”_

“You gotta’ be alright fighting in that…” Bucky followed A.J. into the stairwell and stopped when he saw fabric from the gown A.J. was wearing lying on the ground only to look up and see she had cut off her gown at her mid-thighs and thrown the leftover scraps of the gown onto the ground.  Those legs were going to be the death of him.

Bucky tore his gaze away from A.J.’s legs with two straps of throwing knives and a jack knife strapped to her thighs.  He pulled off his jacket and tie before throwing it onto the floor and handing A.J. one of two handguns he had smuggled into the party by hiding them in a shoulder holster under his jacket.

“Always prepared to give a girl what she needs,” A.J. joked, “Gotta’ appreciate that in a partner, even if he’s a big dick.”

They might not _like_ each other but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t _flirt._   Hell, unless they were working, training, or flirting they were fighting.

“Keep that up you’ll find out _exactly_ what this _big dick_ has to offer,” Bucky teased in return, enjoying the way A.J.’s lips turned up in a sultry smirk at the childishly dirty joke.

“Don’t hold me back and I might let you show me.”

" _Could you just fuck each other and get it over with?”_ Natasha snapped over coms, _“Seriously, this is getting ridiculous and I can fell the sexual tension from **here**.”_

Steve responded with a simultaneously distressed and disgusted groan that everyone could hear over coms before adding, _“I did not want to hear that.  Don’t have sex in the middle of a mission, please.”_

The two ignored the chatter, which included some jokes about secrets shared during girls night, as they got to work.  Bucky gave A.J. a boost so she could silently climb her way up the bannister and clear the path or set the enemy agents up in a trap that would allow Bucky to dispose of them quickly and silently.  Bucky caught up with A.J. at the top, who was in a battle with a brute larger than _Thor_.  She was thrown back and Bucky caught her safely in his arm before blocking the brute’s next hit with his metal arm.  With one cold glare the assassin gripped on the brute’s clenched fist and twisted until he heard multiple cracks.  As the brute cried out, A.J. kicked up with her black heel-clad foot twice to kick the brute back before raising her silenced gun and firing a fatal shot to the forehead.

Bucky threw the brute onto the ground and helped A.J. onto her feet, and the way she took two light steps away to look for other enemy agents made it look like she was dancing.

“Stairway’s clear,” Bucky reported, keeping a close eye on A.J.’s wounds.  It always fascinated him, the way they healed so instantly.  Open wounds would seal in a burned scab and the ashes of the burn would fall away all in seconds while bruises and broken bones would simply mend and vanish from her thin and pale form.

_"Same here,”_ Clint followed.

_"I’m not sensing anyone else, it seems the danger has passed_ ,” Wanda reported.

“I’ll have to sneak out, if I go back there with a ripped dress people are going to get suspicious,” A.J. announced over coms, “I’ll meet you back at the hotel.”

" _Got it, we’ll spin some story about an emergency mission for the illustrious Phoenix,”_ Tony joked, though he was serious about coming up with a story in case anyone asked.

" _Be careful, we don’t know what they were here for yet and chances are they showed up just because we’re here,”_ Steve warned.

“I’ll be fine, I’m taking Bucky along.  He’s got a few bloodstains on his shirt he won’t be able to explain.”

She was right, Bucky noticed as he looked down at his once crisp-white shirt.  It wasn’t _his_ blood, he was mostly unscathed and there were blood stains down his left sleeve that simply _couldn’t_ be his blood.  He took his gun back from A.J. and slipped it back into his hidden holster as they made their way back down the stairs.  Bucky grabbed his tie and lazily tied it before handing his jacket to A.J.

“Such a gentleman,” A.J. teased before they deftly snuck out of the party, pulling their earbuds out and slipping them into Bucky’s jacket as they caught a cab back to the hotel.

“I’ll admit, you surprised me,” A.J. admitted as she crossed her legs in the cab, “You’re surprisingly good at dancing, I think I’d like to dance another time.”

Bucky looked over and matched A.J.’s smirk as he leaned in closer until they were a hair’s breadth away.

“Doll, you read my mind.”


	10. A Bunny In My Coffin (Katrina Hazel Pierce)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katrina loved Halloween and she loved road trips. So, a road trip to a Halloween amusement park was inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live in central Pennsylvania and Field of Screams is like 45 minutes from my house so I go with friends every year. I didn't want to put too much detail into the attractions because it'll give too much away for potential first-timers.
> 
> Anyway, the whole 'Bunny In my Coffin' thing was based on something that actually happened this year at Field of Screams and it is something I will remember fondly until the end of my days.
> 
> EDIT: A few grammatical errors fixed and added a few things I forgot to add. No major changes.

# A Day In The Life Of A Super Soldier

### A Bunny In My Coffin

 

It was Halloween, and all Katrina wanted to do was go to Field of Screams.  Yes, Pennsylvania was a bit of a drive for one night, but it was so worth it for this one park.  It was America’s number 1 horror park and it was only open during the fall.  She hadn’t been there since before the Avengers formed and all she wanted to do was go back to Field of Screams for Halloween weekend.  The amusements were never the same twice, only the buildings for the Den of Darkness and Frightmare Asylum were the same and the rout for the Haunted Hayride and the Nocturnal Wasteland were the same, but beyond that the volunteer actors were always improvising something different.  Plus, on certain nights there were live bands and some of them were pretty good.

Maybe they could make a whole trip of it and go to Eastern State Penitentiary, an old prison in Philadelphia that operated from 1829 to 1971.  It was haunted and the Gothic Revival architectural style only adds to the spookiness.  It was one of the first haunted houses in the US and had six attractions.

When she said ‘they’ she meant anyone she could drag along with her.  She wasn’t going alone, where was the fun in that?

Bruce wasn’t going to go, and that was understandable, but that also meant Natasha probably wasn’t going to go either.  Thor would keep asking questions which would take the fun out of it, and Tony would turn a simple road trip into a country-wide tour of every haunted attraction they could get to before the next time the Avengers were needed.  Wanda was still weary of anything Katrina wanted to do during Halloween, considering last Halloween Katrina had convinced her best friend to join her in a horror gaming marathon that kept Wanda up for days.  Vision…well he’d be all invulnerable and ruin the fun and there was no way in hell Darcy was going to leave her cute British intern for a few days in a haunted house, not including the fact that Darcy was in _England_.

That left Bucky and Steve.  Katrina really should have figured they would be the ones she’d ask to go with her.  She had expected Bucky to be leery, especially when she said people jump out at you and there are some strobe lights and a few rooms that leave you dizzy, but he didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.  He just shrugged and said, “Sure, sounds fun.”

It was Steve who was a little leery; Halloween wasn’t exactly a big deal for him.  Sure, it could be fun, but he didn’t see the fun in haunted attractions or scary movies.  Still, he couldn’t exactly let Bucky and Katrina take off on a field trip on their own.  Steve didn’t even want to _think_ about the trouble they would get into.  So, he agreed to go along if only to babysit the other two.  Then Katrina let out an excited squeak and jumped a little before dashing off to the stairway so she could sprint up the stairs and pack.  The excitement of the black-haired, crimson eyed woman was worth it, especially as she dashed back down to the boys’ floor and hopped as she waited for them.

The road trip down to Pennsylvania was worth it, even though it was a three hour drive for three hours of entertainment.  Of course, there were other things and it was unlikely that Katrina would let them off the hook so easily.  Katrina loved road trips and it wasn’t uncommon for her to drag one or both of them into a road trip.  The rest of the team, and Steve, preferred when Katrina took both of the boys or just Steve.  Steve would make sure they kept in contact and at least left a note telling the others where they had gone off to.  When it was just Katrina and Bucky, the two would back and take off sometimes hours before dawn and would stay off the grid and missing until Natasha or Clint finally tracked them down at Disney World, a random beach in South California, Vegas, or that one time they were gone for two weeks before they were tracked down at the Full Moon Festival in fucking _Thailand,_  a festival that involved fireworks, light shows, music and dancing, and alcohol literally sold by the _bucket_.At least when Steve and Katrina took off to check out Whitsunday Island in Australia, a paradise untouched by man, the other Avengers had a heads up.

Steve still remembered when, only a month after Bucky joined the team, Katrina dragged the two of them along on a surprise road trip to Disney World and Orlando Studios.  It had been a long time since either of the super soldiers had that much fun or laughed that much.

They arrived early and Katrina pulled the two boys to the line waiting to purchase their tickets.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out enough money to pay for all three of them, and began an argument over who would pay for the tickets.  While Steve and Katrina were debating who should pay, Bucky slipped around them and paid for all three tickets and consoling Steve by letting him pay for the food.  Katrina wasn’t allowed to pay for any of it, and she really should have seen it coming.  They were old-fashioned guys and never let her pay.  She pouted angrily, but luckily for the boys there was a concession area complete with fries, hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, hot pretzels, and pizza.

Whenever Katrina’s in a bad mood, feed her.

After bribing Katrina into a better mood with a hot dog, fries covered in cheese and bacon, and some popcorn they were off to the first attraction.  They just followed Katrina’s lead, she knew what her favorites were and even kept in mind what the guys would like as they went through and was determined to leave the best for last.  She even walked the boys through the ‘train system.’

The ‘train system’ was simple.  Because the attractions that were inside buildings took place in such small hallways and corridors they would go in a line and hold hands.  Katrina was in the middle, which left the boys to decide who was in front and who was at the end of the train.  They didn’t really decide, didn’t even talk about it.  They just shrugged and filed in however they were ushered into the attraction.  There were, however, a few details Katrina didn’t mention.

Whoever was in the middle of a group was more often approached by the actors, but Katrina distinctly remembered being pet many times both when she was in the middle of the train and at the back.  That just made it more hysterical when Bucky ended up in the back.  She almost died laughing when she heard him cry out _‘what the fuck?!’_ the first time he was pet.  By the end of the first attraction he stole Katrina’s hair-tie and made her put up his hair in a messy man-bun to avoid being pet again.

The Den of Darkness was first, it was Katrina’s least favorite and she had a very strict love/hate relationship with it.  It was almost pitch black at times, parts of it made her feel claustrophobic and she honestly didn’t know how the six foot giants with broad shoulders were going to make their way through some of the hallways, and the lack of a singular theme just meant it was made up of random bits of terror before you were chased out by a madman with a fake chainsaw.  To top things off, there were two rooms that were made of a black and white checkerboard pattern and between that and the flashing lights Katrina was always left dizzy afterwards.  Though, she was pleasantly surprised this year.  There were a few actresses dressed up as little girls that had long since died and while they didn’t reach out to the park goers or called them out, they were singing a song that was actually quite catchy.

_All I ever wanted was a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin.  All I ever wanted was a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin._

Next was the Frightmare Asylum.  As one would guess, the entire theme was an asylum and while Katrina thought it was pretty cool, she knew that there were parts that Bucky would absolutely detest.  Before they were in line she gave him a warning and told him, earnestly, that Katrina wouldn’t care if they skipped it.  As long as it wasn’t the Nocturnal Wasteland or the Haunted Hayride she didn’t care.  He brushed it off and led them into the attraction, though Steve and Katrina could tell that the assassin was silently reminding himself that it was all fake.  He was at the back of the train again, silent executive decision made by both Katrina and Steve, and Katrina swore she felt Bucky’s grip tighten and his metal arm reach out to pull the girl a little closer at moments.

" _All I ever wanted was a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin, a bunny in my coffin!”_ Katrina sang loudly and cheerfully when she noticed Bucky was struggling more often.  It was almost over, if only she could keep his mind off of his surroundings…

It worked, both boys began laughing as Katrina made an absolute fool of herself and they survived the Frightmare Asulym.

Next was the Nocturnal Wasteland.  It was set outside and the theme was an apocalyptic wasteland of wrecked cars and the occasional underground path you would have to crouch to get through.  It was far easier than the other two, though there was a moment where Steve banged his head on one of the pipes they had to crouch through and when the path brought them through a school bus and one of the actors said ‘the small ones are always the best’ while looking at Katrina she replied with ‘I take that offensively!’ but the guys were cracking up.  Towards the end, Katrina had been called small so many times she was about to end up in a fight, so Steve picked up the small and angry super soldier and threw her over his shoulder as they left the Nocturnal Wasteland.

They stopped to pick up the pictures they took before the attraction, though they weren’t nearly as funny as Katrina yelling that she wasn’t small or adorable.

She had calmed down when they reached the Haunted Hayride, though the guys were sure to keep her between them in case the little bundle of anger got twerked off again.  Though the boys could see why the Hayride was Katrina’s favorite.  It was the best to end the night, even if the psychedelic tunnel they had to go through at the end left them all a little dizzy.  Still, even after they had gone through all the attractions the highlight of the night was still to come.

As the three made their way out of the park, one of the many actors around the park ran up to them and he quickly regretted it.       

“Oh my god!” Katrina exclaimed as she looked at the man dressed as the crazed clown lying on the ground.  Katrina seemed to be the only one concerned, as Bucky began laughing hysterically as Steve just stood in shock, his fists still clenched in front of him after he decked the clown.  It wasn’t long until they were ushered into security and asked for their full names and their identity as members of the Avengers was spilled.  They sat in the room as the security team figured out what to do, and Bucky just couldn’t help himself.

“If they’d just put that damn bunny in Steve’s coffin this wouldn’t have happened.”

 


End file.
